Con-ass, no-el

With trust in the Senate at an abysmal low and taxpayers enraged by the millions in people’s money wasted on ghost employees and other lowlifes in that chamber, you have to be tone-deaf or high on something to want to increase the number of senators.

This is supposed to be one of the objectives being planned by the Senate minority together with House Speaker Faustino Dy III in plotting to spring a constituent assembly or con-ass on our long-suffering nation.

Other supposed objectives of this con-ass, as alleged by President Marcos’ non-sister (complete with propaganda video maligning several folks including her brother), are to raise the age requirement for the presidency, ostensibly to disqualify Vice President Sara Duterte in 2028, as well as to extend the term of BBM until 2031. (He smirked at the alleged “no-el” plot.)

In fairness to the KSP ex-Super Ate ng Pangulo, ousted Senate chief Tito Sotto admitted that Bojie Dy broached the idea of a regional Senate representation, which would raise the number of senators to 36, during a dinner at a hotel with some golfing buddies.

But Sotto stressed that there was no talk of a con-ass, although he said if there would ever be Charter change, he wanted to lower the age requirement for senators and the president.

It was largely idle chatter and he never said OK to Cha-cha under any mode, which has been the stand of the current Senate minority, Sotto stressed.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, for his part, said he was on his way to a board meeting in the same hotel and had mistakenly walked into the dinner. He briefly joined the conversation and later mentioned it to some friends.

Lacson acknowledged that he must have been one of the sources of the speculative stories about con-ass that came out. He described Senator Imee’s allegations as “pure BS… all lies.”

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With the general elections just two years away, no Cha-cha can prosper – especially with the current bunch of politicians who never miss an opportunity to screw the nation for their personal purposes.

You can’t trust these people not to inject a self-serving provision in the amendments, such as unli party-list representation and an increase in the House seats to 1,000. That pesky provision on an anti-dynasty law can be eliminated altogether, along with provisions for impeachment.

Amending even one line in the Constitution needs ratification in a general referendum. Cha-cha at least is something that the chronically self-indulgent politicians can’t carry out without the approval of their employers – meaning us, the taxpayers overburdened by their fat salaries, perks and maintenance costs.

That overpriced monument to senatorial entitlement – the massive new Senate building in Taguig – should instead be turned into a government complex housing other offices, such as courtrooms and prosecutors’ offices. Our halls of justice are so overcrowded.

Perhaps the Office of the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan can share the complex, to facilitate the trial of all the accused plunderers in the Senate.

It’s an obscene travesty to build an oversized, overpriced building, and then create new tax-funded posts to fill the vacant offices. Only in the Philippines! When it comes to profligate spending, the sky’s the limit for lawmakers.

It’s too bad because our 39-year-old Constitution can use an overhaul. To cure judicial overreach, for example, or end the flawed party-list experiment, define and prohibit political dynasties, and change “forthwith” into “immediately.”

There are economic amendments that can make the country competitive in the global environment.

The qualifications for the nation’s highest elective offices can be drastically raised beyond the ability “to read and write” – something that has given us the sorry excuses for lawmakers in the current Congress.

Lawyers are required to have a law degree, while lawmakers are required only to be able to read and write, without even a grade level specified.

In the pre-EDSA two-party system, at least the cream was allowed to rise. Party members knew each other and picked the best among them as leaders. There were distinct party positions on certain issues.

Our current anything-goes, unli-party system gave us the disgraceful Congress that is now tasked with many of the most important aspects of governance.

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Not that brains can guarantee honest and capable performance. Too many of the worst looters in our recent history, starting with Ferdinand Marcos Sr., were/are among the nation’s best and brightest.

You can’t blame ordinary voters for picking clowns over people who use their brains to steal from the people. The more intelligent, the more accomplished the looting. At least the clowns provide entertainment – a break from the endless toil and misery of millions of Filipinos.

As for the lawyers, they study the law to know how to get around it. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are packed with such legal minds.

Even Cha-cha can’t cure this anomaly.

Still, the Charter was ratified before the internet or even CNN became ubiquitous in the country, before cellphones, social media, AI and Netflix came along. Constitutions are supposed to be dynamic and up to the challenges of the times.

Sadly, the rot in our political system prevents the healthy reworking of the Constitution.

Also, two years before the general elections, in the middle of an impeachment, isn’t the time for Cha-cha. Surely even BBM’s non-sister, in her newfound role (she said) of defender of the 1987 Constitution, knows this.

The minority senators have all denied pushing for con-ass. In public, congressmen have also denied any active Cha-cha effort, although I wouldn’t put it past Bojie Dy to genuinely want a con-ass, perhaps to abolish the Senate and shift to a unicameral, two-party legislature.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea, but only in an ideal world where the House is not packed with dynasts, many of whom are deeply involved in the unresolved budgeting and flood control thievery.

The minority senators are aware of this. Accusing them of pushing for con-ass smacks of gaslighting and diversion from the pressing issues of accountability.